At the End of the Thunderpath
by lizfav
Summary: Marie and her family find an old Thunderpath and follow it. They see the lake and stray from their only guide back home. Mudstar, leader of RiverClan, allows them to stay until they find the Thunderpath again. But once it's destroyed, it seems that they must join RiverClan. Will they find their way back home, or will they have to train to be warriors?


Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse are now fully grown. Madame died, and the house was for sale, ever since Edgar gave up his dream of inheriting Madame's fortune. It didn't seem like anyone would take the house. Duchess was curled up in her comfy bed next Thomas.

"Mother!" Marie called. "Berlioz and Toulouse and I found a dirt road! We want to see where it ends!"

"Honestly, Marie," Duchess said. "You are fully grown! One would think you would grow out of foolish adventures by now! But I suppose I'll go with you."

"Hey now," Thomas said, getting up and stretching. "If you're going, I'm going."

"Come on, then!" Marie said excitedly. Duchess stretched and followed her children to the dirt road.

They travelled for days, eating only what Thomas managed to catch for them. Duchess finally spoke up and said, "We should head back. I know the house is for sale still, but it's not safe out here."

"Mother!" Berlioz called. "Come look at this!" The five cats were looking at a large lake.

"Come on! Let's go down there and check it out!" Toulouse said. They headed down the hill, even though the road led somewhere else.

"What are these strange scents? They smell of other cats," Duchess observed. Before anyone could answer, a cat, yowling, leapt out at them.

"Nighttail! Go get Mudstar and Rainpelt! We have intruders on RiverClan territory!" the cat called to a black cat. The black cat ran off into the trees. Duchess and the others ran a few paces away and watched as Thomas and the cat, a gray tom, wrestled with each other. Moments later, the black tom returned with two more cats, a black she-cat and a brown tom.

"Thrushclaw!" the brown tom ordered. "Let them explain."

"We found an old road and followed it here," Marie explained. "We didn't mean anything by it."

"We should get back to the house," Duchess whispered.

"Kittypets!" the black she-cat exclaimed.

"Rainpelt! Silence!" the brown cat ordered. "Get back to your Twolegs." They looked around for the old road, but they couldn't find it again.

"We can't find the road we followed," Marie meowed. Rainpelt rolled her eyes.

"You can come back with us to camp," the brown tom said. "My name is Mudstar, and I am leader of RiverClan. This is Rainpelt, my deputy," he nodded towards the black she-cat. Mudstar introduced all o the cats there, Thrushclaw was the cream-colored tom that attacked Thomas, and Nighttail was the black tom.

"I'm Marie, and these are my brothers, Berlioz and Toulouse. This is my mother, Duchess, and my father, Thomas," Marie introduced. Mudstar led them through RiverClan to their camp. There were a few dens in the camp.

"Mudstar! Mudstar!" a small white cat bounded up to Mudstar. "ShadowClan are attacking!"

"Oh, StarClan, do we need this now?" Mudstar muttered. "Thank you, Whitepaw."

"StarClan?" Marie echoed.

"Our ancestors make up StarClan. They live in Silverpelt. Rainpelt! Gather some cats for a patrol and head for the ShadowClan border," Mudstar ordered. Rainpelt nodded.

"Ebonytail! Crowear! Stonewhisker!" Rainpelt called. Three cats looked up when their names were called. "Come with me and Whitepaw to the ShadowClan border!" Five cats left.

"ShadowClan? Attacking?" Marie repeated timidly.

"There are four Clans around the lake. That way," he tipped his head one way, "is ShadowClan, and that way," he tipped his head the other way, "is WindClan. In between them is ThunderClan."

"And you guys fight?" Toulouse said.

"Sometimes. We're not allowed to cross the borders or steal prey. Hold on, I have to tell the Clan about you."

"Okay."

"Let all cats old enough to swim gather for a Clan meeting!" Mudstar called. Cats emerged from their dens to see what the fuss was about.

"Am I being apprenticed now?" a kitten asked.

"No, you know you can't be an apprentice for another moon," its mother replied.

"Cats of RiverClan!" Mudstar began, "We have some visitors. They followed an old Thunderpath and got lost. Marie, Toulouse, Berlioz, Duchess, and Thomas, come up here. You may stay in the elders' den until you can find your way back to your Twolegs."

"Kittypets!" yowls of outrage broke throughout the crowd. "You can't let kittypets in this Clan!"

"Silence!" Mudstar bellowed. "They _will_ stay here. They will not be joining any patrols or anything, but they will look for their Thunderpath every day until they find it and leave." An old tom limped over to them. His fur was matted and he only had one eye and an injured foreleg.

"You had better find that Thunderpath soon, before your Twoleg comes looking for you, kittypets," he grumbled. "We don't need Twolegs searching around here."

"That's Redfoot," a gray cat said. "He's so grumpy he won't let any of the apprentices check him for ticks more than once a moon. Sorry you have to share a den with him. I'm Treefoot."

"Hi, Treefoot," Marie said.


End file.
